Geoff Boucher wrote:With the exception of James Dean, who made only three films, there might be no pop-culture icon who has done more with less than the late Jimi Hendrix. The ultimate guitar hero released just three studio albums before his death in 1970, but new generations of music fans keep plugging into his amplified legacy.

The volume of Hendrix's music is about to get turned up.

Today, the Hendrix estate and Sony Music Entertainment will announce the March 9 release of a "new" Hendrix album, "Valleys of Neptune," which will feature a dozen unreleased recordings.

The late star's sister, Janie Hendrix, calls the material a "major revelation" about her brother's musical directions at the time of his death, but the project and Sony's intense interest in it also reveal plenty about the modern music marketplace -- namely that proven stars of the past, even the dead ones, are growing more important to an industry facing an uncertain future.

At last week's massive 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sony chairman and chief executive Howard Stringer opened his company's presentation by talking about Sony's Legacy Recordings and its licensing agreement with Experience Hendrix, the Seattle-based company that acts as steward of the estate.

That partnership was first announced last summer, but today marks the real rollout of Sony's venture into the Hendrix vault. The company also will re-release familiar Hendrix albums bundled with new DVD documentaries, take the star into the online sector aggressively and look for synergy opportunities with the biennial Hendrix all-star tribute tour that begins its national run March 4 in Santa Barbara.

Perhaps, but it also offers insight into the mind set at the major record labels. There was a major scramble among Sony's rivals to land the Hendrix deal for the simple reason that icons of the past are viewed as a particularly good investment at a time when CD sales of new music are in continued decline and up-and-coming acts represent limited upside amid the shifting profit realities of the digital-download era.

In other words, the rewind button looks like a safer bet these days.Nostalgia sells

Warner Music Group has undertaken a major Frank Sinatra revival that is both archival -- with the release of vintage recordings -- and entrepreneurial with new ventures in advertising, film and perhaps a Las Vegas casino. Michael Jackson was the bestselling artist of last year (8.2 million albums sold in the U.S. alone), and the Beatles came in third (3.3 million); country crossover singer Taylor Swift finished between the two with music that was actually recorded in this century.

The Fab Four also hit the video game market with their Rock Band game, the latest of their seemingly seasonal encores as a pop-culture force.

And now, Hendrix is warming up as a 21st century enterprise.

Born in Seattle in 1942, Johnny Allen Hendrix would take on a persona that matched his trippy guitar feedback. His persona -- part gypsy mystic/part cosmic visitor -- made him seem somehow both earthy and otherworldly, a combination that made him a touchstone figure for a tie-dyed generation.

When he set his guitar on fire on stage in 1967 at the Monterey International Pop Festival he truly ignited his career. The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded signature 1960s tracks such as "Purple Haze" and "Foxey Lady," but their frontman's fashion influence and guitar innovations made him greater than the sum of those hits.

Hendrix died in London after a night of barbiturate use in September 1970. He was 27 and had no will. His estate, which is now valued somewhere north of $80 million, was caught up in legal battles for years; initially, control went to his father, Al Hendrix, but over the next decade he ceded it to others with results that left Hendrix devotees grumbling.Power struggle

Eventually, Al Hendrix wrested control back, leading to the 1995 creation of Experience Hendrix, but his 2002 death led to more court conflicts. Janie, the half-sister of Jimi, emerged as the victor when the dust settled in 2008. She says that now, finally, the obstacles have been cleared and "Valleys of Neptune" is part of a major cache of material that will be tapped.

"There are things that were acquired through the years, both music and film footage and home recordings, or things that were left behind by the old administration not taking care of things," she said. "We have material for a decade's worth [of new releases]."

Janie Hendrix added that "Neptune" has some familiar songs -- die-hard fans might have heard some of these tracks on various bootleg recordings that have turned up over the years -- but these versions are startling.

"It sounds," she said, "like Jimi could have recorded them yesterday."

Any new release will face withering inspection from Hendrix scholars. One of them, Charles R. Cross, author of the acclaimed 2005 Hendrix biography "Room Full of Mirrors" and an occasional critic of the Hendrix estate, said the track listing comes with the promise of pristine presentations of long-muddied material.

"With so many different 'official' albums so far and hundreds of bootlegs, very little Hendrix is truly 'unheard' or 'unreleased' these days," Cross said Sunday. "But to listen to some of Jimi's final Experience recordings in their original versions, with quality remastering, is enough to get any Hendrix fan excited, particularly when the songs are as good as 'Hear My Train,' one of Jimi's best-ever tracks."

South African native Eddie Kramer was the lead producer on the album, and he was also the engineer in the studio with Hendrix during the original sessions. Kramer spent months using vintage analog approaches and the latest digital tools to excavate the material. "I felt like an archaeologist using a brush who finds, underneath the dust, this marvelous gold artifact," he said.

'A new direction'

Kramer said the music of "Neptune" comes primarily from 1969, a time of "both frustration and real excitement" for Hendrix as he pushed his way toward "a new direction." The guitarist had brought in an old friend, bassist Billy Cox, to play on some of the tracks; on Friday, Cox, now living in Nashville, said he is giddy at the prospect of hearing the results of his work with Hendrix.

"I can tell you that Jimi was on his way to a powerful new thing, a new direction completely, he was going back to his roots and he wanted a sound with more soul," said Cox, later in Hendrix's Band of Gypsys. "Who can say where it would have led him if he hadn't died?"

Cox chuckled when asked about the sway Hendrix has on young rock fans and new generations of artists. People who were born after Hendrix was buried seem to view him as a wizard who wasn't quite real.

"Jimi was a complete original and a visionary," Cox said. "Every 10 years a new generation finds him. There are only two kinds of guitarists in the world. The ones who talk about how they were influenced by Jimi Hendrix and those who were influenced by Jimi Hendrix but won't admit it."

BRUCE PILAT wrote:When Jimi Hendrix returned to play his hometown of Seattle, Washington, while on tour in 1968, he spent as much time as possible with kid sister Janie. "He said to me then, 'You won't ever have to worry about anything, I will always take care of you.'" recalls Janie, today. "And, I said back to him: 'And when I get older, Jimi, I will always take care of you.'"

Today's release of "Valleys Of Neptune" (Sony Legacy), comes as a victory for Janie after waging years of court battles to gain complete control of the Hendrix catalog and archives. Among the most anticipated releases of 2010, "Valleys of Neptune" consists of more than 60 minutes of never-before-heard studio recordings by Hendrix, including several brand-new songs.

The album will launch Experience Hendrix's new initiative, which includes a long-term licensing deal of the entire catalog with Sony's Legacy label (after nearly two decades with Universal); concert tours celebrating the music of Hendrix; and a Rockband game currently under development.

Co-produced by Janie Hendrix, music archivist John McDermott and longtime Hendrix engineer/producer, Eddie Kramer, "Neptune" represents a portal to the time just after the release of Hendrix's last studio LP, "Electric Ladyland," in the fall of 1968, to when he started recording at his own Greenwich Village studio, Electric Lady, in the summer of 1970.

"You had a lot going on during that period," said McDermott. "There was the breakup of the original Experience; and you had (drummer) Mitch Mitchell, (bassist) Billy Cox and Jimi beginning to record as a trio. We felt that was the one period that hadn't really been documented in an interesting way. 'Valleys Of Neptune' is important because it conceptually shows the linear progression of Jimi's career. These are 12 songs that fit just perfectly."

McDermott noted that Hendrix was a prolific artist. "What we tried to do in the first phase during the Universal period," he said, "was to restore his catalog and re-master everything. This phase will explore new releases. On the whole, there is a lot of incredible music still to come."

Given what's been released posthumously, which has far outweighed what came out during Hendrix's lifetime -- including three studio albums, his "Smash Hits" collection and the live "Band of Gypsies" set at the Fillmore East -- it would seem as if the Hendrix vaults have been virtually swept clean.

But according to Janie Hendrix, more than 10 more years of audio and video releases could be in store.

"Honestly, there were more than 400 hours of tapes when he died," said Hendrix. "I think in some ways -- and it is sad to think this -- but it is almost as if he knew he had a very limited time on earth to get done what he needed to get done in music. When it came to music he was a workaholic and he wanted to capture everything. He wanted the world to hear his music."

Four years after the Jimi Hendrix Experience formed in London, Hendrix would die in his sleep in 1970.

According to Forbes, in 2009, Hendrix was the fourth best selling dead rock star, with sales exceeding $8 million, and only behind John Lennon, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson.

"Jimi told my dad when he opened up Electric Lady Studios that he was working on a new kind of sound and a new kind of music," said Hendrix. "He said: 'It is going to change the way people listen to music. It will change everything.'"

"We can only surmise what kind of music Jimi Hendrix would have made had he lived," said Eddie Kramer. "The only thing I know for sure, is he would have remained a musical maverick."

The 2010 Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project marches on! Following the recent posthumous Hendrix album Valleys of Neptune will be West Coast Seattle Boy — The Jimi Hendrix Anthology, a five-disc boxed set spanning four hours of unreleased music over 45 tracks. Tupac, watch your back.

The year of Hendrix continues. Fans of Jimi Hendrix have been treated to quite a lot regarding the guitarist this year, from the Experience Hendrix tour to (official!) MP3s of demos and bootlegs being made available. And yeah, that’s only scratching the surface. Now, get prepared for something else of massive proportions, so massive that it’s going to take four CDs to cover it all.

Legacy Recordings has announced West Coast Seattle Boy – The Jimi Hendrix Anthology, a five-disc (one of them being a DVD) box set of rare and unreleased music. We’re talking over four hours of music here and 45 tracks in total. These tracks will include demos and alternate versions of album songs, alongside live performances and songs we’ve never heard before.

This deluxe box set will be made available on November 16th, rounding out an amazing year of Hendrix celebration. If you’re curious about what to expect on the album, look below for the massive track listing.

Steve Chagollan wrote:Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings are once again dipping into the Jimi Hendrix archives for a series of releases designed to entice believers and non-believers alike. The new releases follow on the heels of impressive sales of "The Valleys of Neptune," a collection of previously unreleased Hendrix tracks released in March.

Deluxe editions of "Jimi Hendrix Experience: BBC Sessions" and "Jimi Hendrix: Blues," as well as re-releases of "Live at Woodstock" and "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" will be available Oct. 19, according to Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings.

The new "Blues" package includes "Jimi Hendrix and the Blues," a 30-minute bonus DVD that's an expanded version of a segment from the "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues" series originally broadcast on PBS. A double-disc 12-inch vinyl LP audiophile edition of "Jimi Hendrix: Blues" will also be available.

The two-CD "BBC Sessions" also includes a 30-minute DVD documentary, featuring the power trio's 1969 appearance on "Happening for Lulu" and interviews with Experience members Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell. A single CD "best-of" the BBC Sessions as well as a three-disc 12" audiophile vinyl LP edition of the album will also be available.

The Woodstock set will be reissued in two-CD, newly designed packages, available in digipak and box configurations, as well as a three-disc 12-inch vinyl LP edition. The Christmas record will be reissued as a CD as well as on 7-inch vinyl.

This second wave of 2010 Hendrix titles will culminate with the release of "West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology," a career-spanning, four-CD box set filled with previously unreleased Experience recordings plus demos and alternate takes. The anthology will also include a new Hendrix documentary directed by Bob Smeaton ("Beatles Anthology").

"Valleys of Neptune," the first fresh release under Experience Hendrix's pact with Sony Music's Legacy division, debuted at No. 4 on Billboards comprehensive album chart in March with sales of 95,000 units before dropping out of the Billboard Top 200 chart in June with almost 275,000 units sold.

Greg Prato wrote:Despite having died in 1970, there's never been a shortage of Jimi Hendrix releases throughout the years, focusing on either live material or unreleased material. But once Experience Hendrix was formed a few years back (a company headed by Jimi's family), the quality of these posthumous releases improved dramatically.

And on September 13th comes the next batch of Jimi releases, via Experience Hendrix LLC and Legacy Recordings.

A box set simply titled Winterland will be issued, which is drawn from six different shows during October 1968 from San Francisco's famed Winterland Ballroom. The box will be available as either four CD's, eight vinyl records, or as a single CD comprised of highlights.

Hendrix in the West was a live album originally issued in 1972, which will be reissued as an expanded version, consisting of live material recorded at venues ranging from the Berkeley Community Theatre and the San Diego Sports Arena to the Isle of Wight Festival.

And a pair of DVD sets will be issued as well - Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight (which showcases one of Jimi's last-ever performances, filmed in August 1970), as well as a compilation of Jimi's performances on The Dick Cavett Show, simply titled, The Dick Cavett Show.

TheButcher wrote:A box set simply titled Winterland will be issued, which is drawn from six different shows during October 1968 from San Francisco's famed Winterland Ballroom. The box will be available as either four CD's, eight vinyl records, or as a single CD comprised of highlights.

Hendrix in the West was a live album originally issued in 1972, which will be reissued as an expanded version, consisting of live material recorded at venues ranging from the Berkeley Community Theatre and the San Diego Sports Arena to the Isle of Wight Festival.

And a pair of DVD sets will be issued as well - Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight (which showcases one of Jimi's last-ever performances, filmed in August 1970), as well as a compilation of Jimi's performances on The Dick Cavett Show, simply titled, The Dick Cavett Show.

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Getting to it late is better than never, but getting to it at all is better than not. Can't wait to see.....